93 prelude occosaionally won t startthen hours later starts right up?

Answer 1

Can you hear the fuel pump pressurize and stop when it starts normally? Listen for a whine and stop when you turn the key but do not start it. If when it doesn't start for you, listen before trying to turn it over... if you get silence, replace the main relay which is what causes the fuel pump to pressurize the system right before starting. Easy replacement but you have to get the main relay from the dealer. The older Preludes had a problem with the Main Relay due to a car's heating and cooling which developed cracks in the little solder joints on the little PC board. The relay is a little pricey (less than $150) but can be alot cheaper than a new computer. The car's computer is very reliable. Returned computers to manufacturers, claiming to be bad, were bad only one-tenth OF ONE PERCENT of the returns. That means only 1 in a thousand computers were actually defective. The technicians will blame the computer for a lot but in fact it may be a profitable charge and a way for them to get out from under the position of not knowing what is causing the problem. OR, they can replace a $60 relay and then charge for a new computer too. You never know the difference because they fix the "little" problem, charge you for a "big" problem and when the new computer is replaced...it seems to be the fix that was required.

...a small addition to the above post.

You could buy a soldering iron and fix any of the joints which are cracked or have white rings around them.

Crawl under the steering wheel, locate the relay. Pull off the orange clip, use a flathead to carefully release the grey clips from the relay itself.. See if any of the joints on the circuit board have cracks or white rings. Use the iron and a small bead of solder to repair it. If you don't have steady hands or aren't used to working with it, find someone. It's about $15 vs $60-100. It's worked for my prelude, and it's still starting reliably.